After a decade being the leader of Exeter City Council, councillor Pete Edwards has decided to step down and take a back step from it all, although he has announced he could make a return unlike anyone will expect.

Full of his usual wit, the former bus driver has said he will mark the opening of what has become nicknamed locally as ‘Pete’s Pool’ by donning a pair of Speedos for the special occasion.

He’s quick to add he’d never really subject anyone to that, but it’s clear that if there is one legacy the 72-year-old is proud of it’s the building of St Sidwell’s Point and the new bus station.

The decision to retire is entirely his own according to Cllr Edwards who would have been 76 years old by the time his term ended had he not decided to leave. It has been 35 years since he was first elected to the city council.

Cllr Pete Edwards, leader of Exeter City Council

He went on to become leader in 2007 and served for a year before the Liberal Democrats took control of the council in 2008. However, he then returned to the role in 2011 and has held the position until the present day.

Explaining the reasons behind his decision to now leave, Cllr Edwards admitted: “I’d been thinking about it for a while. The main thing I was bothered about was that before I did was the swimming pool and bus station development and that’s happening now.”

Cllr Edwards admits he is familiar with some people referring to the project as ‘Pete’s Pool’ and when asked what he thinks of the name he joked: “That would be good eh? People have also called it the dearest pool in the country but its £50m including the pool and the bus station.

“I have said I will come in there with my Speedos on when the pool opens.”

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Becoming leader of Exeter City Council was never a goal Cllr Edwards says he set out to achieve but instead just unfolded before him.

“Life is fate and that’s how I became leader,” he said. “Roy Slack was the leader and when he lost his seat I was his deputy so I stood for it. When he lost his seat I did think, ‘oh my God’, because when you’re deputy you don’t make any decisions, whereas when you’re leader the buck falls with you.

“When I first became leader I was still working full-time as a union rep and it took its toll. I got psoriasis and when I stopped working it was all right again. I was on the buses for 45 years and was also leader for three of those. I’ve never really retired as being leader of the council is a full-time job because I’m in the council offices every day and there is lots of meetings you have to attend.

“However, you have portfolio holders who look after different areas and one of the main things is you have got to be able to delegate as you can’t do it all. Instead all you can do is just keep an overall brief of everything.”

Although it was a role he may have never set out to do, Cllr Edwards says he is very glad he took it on and is proud of how he has seen the city change since.

“I have enjoyed every minute of it,” he said. “You have some down times but some great things are happening in the city.”

When asked to pick some his favourite memories as leader, Cllr Edwards quickly rolls off when Exeter hosted the Rugby World Cup in 2015, when the Radio One Big Weekend was hosted at Powderham Castle in 2016, and Exeter having one of the fastest growing economies in the UK.

He said: “One of the main things as a socialist is that I don’t believe in low wages. The city has not got a low wage economy. Between 2007 and 2017 the number of people with jobs in the city has risen by 25 per cent. It also has one of the UK’s highest growth rates for private sector job creation.

“My biggest achievement though is St Sidwell’s Point. The redevelopment of the bus station is now well underway with the creation of a state-of-the-art new leisure complex and a much-needed new bus station. A wider £300m development is planned at the site, including housing, offices and hotels.”

Cllr Pete Edwards and Karime Hassan from Exeter City Council in front of a view of the Bus station and surrounding area that is to be re-developed

Being leader of the council has meant an influx of invitations to many different events, and Cllr Edwards admits he’s turned down many dinner functions over the years.

“I don’t like them, especially the black tie ones,” he said. “I like being invited to the rugby though. What is good about being leader is you meet a lot of interesting people. I have even got to meet The Queen and Prince Philip.”

When asked if he has any regrets about what he has done during his time as leader, Cllr Edwards says it has been making cuts due to government funding.

He said: “Our prosperous city is being penalised by the government all the time. We have managed to keep all services going but with all the cuts we need to find another way of getting revenue such as selling off land to pay for services in the future.”

Cllr Edwards is all too aware that not all decisions he and the council have made have been popular with voters, but he says he is not one to read comments made or take them to heart.

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He said: “If you get into politics you have to take the rough with the smooth. You go into politics with the best intentions to implement what you want to do with a manifesto and I think I have been successful with that over the years. You get criticism but I don’t read it because then it sticks in your mind.

“I give the same advice to other councillors in my group and they have been first class, as have the staff at Exeter City Council.”

When asked who should be the next leader of Exeter City Council if the Labour party maintain control, Cllr Edwards becomes very diplomatic and refuses to answer.

Instead he neutrally says: “They are all very capable people. It will be easy for me to take a back step as it won’t be my responsibility anymore but someone else’s. I will keep my views to myself.

“What I hope for the future is to see the city carry on and be prosperous with good jobs. I know shopping centres in a lot of places are dying, but Exeter is still holding its own.

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“I would like to carry on seeing that because it’s such a nice place to live and bring up families. What I love about Exeter is it has good transport links as well as being 10 minutes away from the beach and 20 minutes from Dartmoor. I was born and bred in Exeter and I will never leave. Everything I have got in life this city has given me and I couldn’t wish for anything better.

“Now I’m finishing as leader I’ve got nothing planned. Maybe I’ll go the pub all day as I like a drink. I have got a camper van so my wife and I will go off in that.”

Cllr Edward's last day will be on May 2, and it’s unlikely he will be seen shedding a tear.

He said: “I won’t be emotional. I will be all right although at the last full council meeting I was very emotional for me as a lot of people said nice things about me, including the opposition.”